Signups for ASCIT President and Vice-Presi­ Media Guy returns to dent will be posted next week at Winnett. If you review the latest are interested in either position, please sign up and mOVIes. fill in the requested information. Thank you. see page 6 Grace Yang AS CIT Secretary THE CALIFORNIA TECH VOLUME XCVIII, NUMBER 12 PASADENA, CALIFORNIA FRIDAY, 10 JANUARY 1997 ASCIT faculty talks begin Hawking speaks on black holes for non-academic topics related to stu­ epnen .Tf::!!.awlUng _~'"'!...-~ beJleve. tha BY KOHL GILL BY TERRY MORAN naked IIlngu/arltle. Breen anathema and should dents like housing, traditions, faculty-stu­ be prohibited by the 18W11 of clll.elcal physIcs, Now in his tenure period stay at Undergraduates, graduate students, dent relations, etc.; and one on the Pur­ And whereas John Pf9.'killand KIp Thorn. and facul ty: By now you should have pose of Undergraduate Education, in­ Caltech, Steven Hawking gave a tech­ regard naked s/ngu/ar/Ues •• quantum gravitational object. thaI mIght exl.t unclothed gotten a memorandum, bye-mail, paper, vestigating the more fundamental ques­ nical lecture concerning "Loss of in­ by horizons, for.l1 the UnIverse to lIell, formation in Black Holes" in Ramo «both, regarding the 1997 StudentlFac­ tions at Caltech,like what we want gradu­ !herefore HlIwklng o"ertl, and PreskllVThome Illy Conference. First, here's a brief ates to take away from the Institute. Auditorium yesterday. Although the IIccept, a wsge, w/tluxlds of 100 pounds sUrllng to 50 PQundB BUrlIng, that when any form of summary of the memo for those of you These committees will be formed as talk was only part of the weekly Phys­ clssslcll' mlIttef Of f1sld thllt I. Incllpable of becoming slngul., In f1.t spacetime Is coupled to who have misplaced your own (tsk, tsk). soon as possible and will work on these ics Colilquliy, the lecture was well at­ general relllllvlty vt. the classIcal EInsteIn Every couple of years, the ASCIT' issues and any others they wish to tackle tended by both physics and non-phys­ equiltlons, the result can never bell nsked sIngularity. Al:ademics and Research Committee or­ until the day of the con(erence, Tuesday, ics staff and students. The highly theo­ paizes a conference to talk about con­ April 15th. (Don't forget to clear your The loser will reward the winner with clothIng to retical talk covered the integrity of cover the winner's nakedness. The clothing Is to. cerns students and faculty have about calendars!) This is where you come in. information as it approaches and be embroidered with (I suitable concessIonary messege. ¥llious aspects of life at Caltech. We (the In order for the committees to be rep­ reaches the depths of the singularity ARC) form a few committees to spend resentative, in order that all sides be of a black hole. During his lecture some time researching and investigating heard, in order to make this conference Hawking also more accurately de­ . ~rP...p..{ k"""-"1.. 1hese concerns and to present their find­ work we need your help. If you're con­ Stephen W. Hawkfng ,._ ~~n P. PreekliJ & KIp S. Tho'rn. scribed the details of his most recent p•• edtn •• C.llf~" 24 Stolembef . '~1 . iDgs to the Cal tech community on the day cerned about these issues, e-mail the • bet, made against Kip Thome and John oftbe conference. ARC at or leave us a mes­ Hawking conceded a bet about acad@cco, Preskill which he conceded upon a This year, we will have three com­ sage at x 1590. Undergrads, grads, and naked singularities to Preskill miltees : one on the Honor System, deal­ faculty are all needed for these commit­ SEE BET ON PAGE 5 and Thorne. .. with the BoC, the GRB and the com­ tees, so drop us a line and make a differ­ .uty in general; one on Student Life, ence! Hooked on politics? BY SARA BEABER Jersey's capital. Now that President Clinton Found a summer job yet? if has signed legislation abolishing the opportunity for a paid sum­ the Aid to Families with Depen­ mer internship in politics or pub­ dent Children (AFOC) program, lic policy interests you, read on. states will receive block grants The Dean's Office in 102 of money to spend as they see Parsons-Gates will be accepting fit, within certain strictures. New proposals for this year's intern­ Jersey was already involved in ship until Monday, March 3, drafting an alternative plan to 1997. Proposals should say how AFDC and General Assistance and where you would use the (GA) for the state, and this plan $3600 stipend. I encourage any became the basis for the Work undergrad with interests in poli­ First NJ legislation currently tics and public policy to apply before the New Jersey legisla­ for the internship, and start ture. As an agency that tries to searching for a sponsor soon. address many of the needs of the Welfare reform is currently disadvantaged in the greater a hot topic for the local, state, Trenton area, Mercer Street and federal government social Friends provides non-partisan service agencies, and I was policy research and analysis to The Sherman Fairchild library, which opened Monday, sports a privileged to be able to work in inform and improve public large reading hall and nifty lamps. New Jersey's summer of rein­ policy as part of its mission to venting welfare policy through improve the quality of life for the Beckman Politics and Pub­ the community . New Fairchild Library embraces keycards lic Policy Internship. This fund­ The high profile of welfare BY ERIK STREED the holdings of several E&AS brary is control via the same ing allowed me to intern with the reform provided me a number of departmental libraries in one keycard system that has been policy analyst and advocate at amazing opportunities to ex­ The most recent addition location. Journals are stored implemented at Avery House. Mercer Street Friends, a large plore my long-standing interests to the Caltech campus, the on the second floor in space The Xerox machines will soon non-profit social service agency in social service and social jus- Sherman Fairchild Library saving automated racks which be equipped with card readers in the heart of Trenton, New SEE INTERN ON PAGE 10 opened Monday, January 6 for run on tracks. The third floor to allow students, faculty and institute use. The library is to has a read'ing room with a staff to charge copying di­ be dedicated this coming Janu­ cherry wood barrel vault ceil­ rectly to their accounts. in IN THIS ISSUE ary 14 at 3:45 p.m. in a cer­ ing. This room was modeled addition the library checkout emony on the west side of the after the Linonia and Brothers system may also be integrated THE USUAL THIS WEEK'S bUilding, near Dabney Gar­ Room at Yale. into the Campus Card System. dens. This new library houses Construction of this li­ Sherman Fairchild Library, STUFF FEATURES materials for the Engineering brary marks a shift by the like the recently constructed DILBERT®..... ............................ 7 Opinions ........ :. ......................... 2 and Applied Sciences (E&AS) Caltech Library system to­ Moore Labs, is filled to the Professor of the Week .. ............. 8 Stalking the Mindstalker. ......... .4 div ision. Constructed with wards a more technologically brim with fiber optic 'cable to Dean's Corner. ..........................9 The Schitzophrenic ...................5 The Outside World .................... I 0 funds provided by the based approach to servicing provide high speed digital Are You a Nerd? .... ................... .5 Sports ........ ..................... .......... 11 MediaGuy........................... ...... 6 Sherman Fairchild Founda­ the Cal tech Community. communications capability. Announcements ........................ 12 tion, the library consolidates Afterhours access to the Ii- 2 10 January 1997 OPINIONS THE CALIFORNIA TECH free trade because it hastens the Science is important, but the world mental consequences of drug abuse LETTERS TO THE EDITORS revolution." It is not inconsistent, is one heck of a lot bigger than that I to the abusers alone, and the abus­ as Sullivan suggests, for progress­ Ca/tech should be too, if we are to ers were actually forced to swal­ ives to be opposed to neoliberal emerge from it prepared to do low the consequences of such ac­ countries, not trade policy formu­ trade policies. whatever we stri ve to do. tions wholly on their own. But, as Open markets Sullivan himself eloquently points lated by the businessmen them­ BYRON PHILHOUR In reference to Terry's edito­ exploit the selves, can counteract this (though rial self-love fest of two issues out, there are implications for those GRAD STUDENT this becomes more difficult as back, a request for affirmation (I who share a home, highway, or working classes agreements such as NAFfA and think,) let me say that I've worked neighborhood with drug abusers. Dear Editors, GAIT allow undemocratic organi­ And now, a word on several papers and I know how From the battered spouse, to the I'm writing this because your zations even more control over hard it is. Your readership prob­ innocent motorist killed by a drunk opinion and letters page often what is made, who makes it, how from Rob ably does not, so I'm here to tell driver. to the victims of a crime looks like it was photocopied from it is made, and how it is distrib­ them. Just putting together a pa­ spawned by a need for drugs be· Newsweek. ;) uted). Incidentally, Cal tech slu­ Dear Editors, per that doesn' t suck is-very hard. yond an abuser's financial means In an attack on Z Magazine dents will most likely be on the At the surface, I'm moved to Putling together a really good one, (be the drug legal or otherwise), (http:www.lbbs.orgIZMag.htm) in wrong side of this fight when they write by D.R.